DARE'S ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN IS INEFFECTIVE, MISDIRECTED

Re: "Car show raises cash for DARE," the Times Herald's
Aug. 13, article on page 1B:

Good intentions are no substitute for effective drug education.
Independent evaluations of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE)
found the program to be either ineffective or counterproductive (See
the following U.S. Government Accounting Office report, which confirms
my claims regarding DARE: www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf).

The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students who realize
they've been lied to about marijuana may make the mistake of assuming
that harder drugs - like methamphetamine - are relatively harmless, as
well. Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may
backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.

The importance of parental involvement in reducing drug use cannot be
overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also have been
shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're
most likely to get into trouble.

For drug education to effectively reduce harm, it has to be credible.
The most popular recreational drug and the one most closely associated
with violent behavior often is overlooked. That drug is alcohol, and
it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.
Alcohol may be legal, but it's still the No. 1 drug problem.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy Analyst

Common Sense For Drug Policy

www.csdp.org.

Washington, DC -- Aug 15